FERNANDO VI

Guatemala onzas from 1754 to 1757. Following the Royal Decree of 1751, the gradual transition away from hammered minting in Guatemala began. However, it was not until 1754, that the first coins were actually struck using a coining press. In this case, the onzas (1754 and 1755) with the new official dies bearing the first official portrait of the king. This portrait was the work of Diego de Cosá, chief engraver at the Madrid Mint, and its use at this American mint is extremely rare. The king’s third monetary portrait, created in 1750 by Tomás Francisco Prieto, was a simplified version of the short-lived second portrait by Francisco Sáez, a personal servant of Queen Bárbara of Braganza who was not formally part of the Mint’s staff. This third portrait would be adopted across all American mints, though its appearance in Guatemala is particularly rare, found only on the onzas struck in 1756 and 1757, also exceedingly rare.